By Joseph Ametepe
Good and Gracious Father, we thank You for blessing us with the honor of being among the living at the beginning of March 2022. Indeed, we acknowledge that You Yourself give to all people life and breath and all things (see Acts 17:25). Everything we have to live in this life is from You. You are indeed a great and generous giver. Your word says: “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7b).
We have boasted
Indeed, O Lord, we have boasted as if we had not received life and breath and all things from You. We humbly confess our boasting. It’s evil. It’s an affront to You. Please Gracious Father, forgive us and restore us to Yourself, as has been our cry since the beginning of this year (see January 2022 and February 2022). Thank You Father for Your forgiveness of our sin of boasting on the basis of the once for all perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Your only Begotten Son, and our Blessed and Only Savior.
We have access into Your presence
Righteous Father, because of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus our Lord and Leader, we have access into Your presence. What a privilege You have given to us! In fact, Your Word exhorts us to “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Merciful and Mighty Father, we admit that we need Your special and supernatural help in all areas of our lives as Your believing people.
We sincerely seek Your special and supernatural help
As such, in this month of March 2022, we sincerely seek Your special and supernatural help even as King Asa of Judah sought it in his time of great need. “LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name come against this multitude. O LORD, You are God; let not man prevail against You” (2 Chronicles 14:11b; NASB).
Dear Father, no one can triumph over You
Since, Dear Father, no one can triumph over You, and that we can count on You for help, we now ask: O Lord, our God, help in the battle between the powerful Russians and those who have no strength in Ukraine. We earnestly ask for Your help for believers in Jesus Christ, both in Russia and Ukraine. Preserve them from the destructive works of the enemy. Protect them from harm. Provide for all their spiritual, physical, emotional and psychological needs in this hour of need. Pay attention to their desperate cries for help. O Lord, You are God; yes, the true God of the universe. Let not man prevail against You in the Ukraine crisis which is changing hour by hour.
You, Gracious Father, have power to help
Since, You, Gracious Father, have power to help and to bring down [literally, cause to stumble] (see 2 Chronicles 25:8b), we are confident and certain that You will release Your divine power to assist all who are affected in the changing crisis in Ukraine, especially, believers in Christ Jesus. At the same time, we believe that You, the God of Justice (see Isaiah 30:18), “who executes justice for the oppressed” (Psalms 146:7a; NASB), will in Your own time and way bring down all the perpetrators of evil in Ukraine crisis. Heavenly Father: “Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You” (2 Chronicles 20:6b; NASB).
You are powerful and Your work is perfect
Because, You are powerful and Your work is perfect and all Your ways are just (see Deuteronomy 32:4), we heartily and humbly dedicate the month of March 2022 to You, our Lord and our God. Please Father, perform all that You Yourself have predestined and planned to happen in March 2022. For You do according to Your will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can ward off Your hand (see Daniel 4:35b). Please, Almighty God, accomplish all You have purposed concerning our families, our friends and fellow-believers, and us in March 2022.
Carry out what concerns Your chosen and cherished people
Also, our Faithful Father, please carry out what concerns Your chosen and cherished people Israel, Your Church – that is, Your consecrated and called out ones, and Your world – made up of all the countries and the lands You created under the heavens – for the praise of Your great and glorious name!
We humbly come to You
Since You are the God who carries what concerns us, we humbly come to You and honestly call upon You on this first day of March 2022. Please, Holy Father, reveal more of Yourself to us in these days of uncertainty and instability in our world. Remove the heart of stone from our flesh and give us a heart of flesh (see Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26), that is completely Yours. For Your Word says: “The eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those who heart is completely His” (2 Chronicles 16:9a; NASB). Release us from all that’s hindering us from becoming all that You want us to be. Restrain us from pursuing the pleasures of sin!
We confess that we are powerless
O Righteous Father, we, like King Jehoshaphat of Judah, confess that we are powerless before the ongoing Ukraine crisis, nor do we know what to do. But our eyes are on You (see 2 Chronicles 20:12). Strengthen our trust in You all throughout March 2022! Sustain us in these days of instability in our world! Speak to our hearts to calm our many fears! Surround us even as the mountains surround Jerusalem (see Psalms 125:2). Show Yourself strong on our behalf in such a time as this, that all may know that You are indeed our God – the Most High, who is ruler over the realm of mankind (see Daniel 4:17, 25, 32), and that there is none besides You.
You are the Most High
Because You are the Most High and Ruler of the realm of mankind, we know that You have permitted the Ukraine crisis for Your sovereign purposes – which we do not understand now. But since “the end of all things is near” (1 Peter 4:7a), enable us by the power of Your Spirit, to share the good news of Jesus Christ with a sense of urgency in such a time as this. Serve by the strength which You supply (see 1 Peter 4:11b). Seek and save the lost, thus following in the footsteps of the Son of Man who has come to seek and to save that which was lost (see Luke 19:10). Spend and be spent for the souls of others (see 2 Corinthians 12:15). Speak the truth in love (see Ephesians 4:15) to all who have hearts to hear and heed it.
You know all that will happen in March 2022
Thank You Father, that You know all that will happen in March 2022 even before its first day began. You alone declare the end from the beginning (see Isaiah 46:10). In fact, nothing that happens in March 2022 will take You by surprise. No. Not at all! We may be stunned and shocked. But not You. That’s why we cast ourselves completely upon You and upon Your mercies to do what’s good in Your sight concerning us in March 2022 and beyond!
You are good and do good
Since, Gracious Father, “You are good and do good” (Psalms 119:68); we pray to You with confident expectation. Even though March 2022 has many unknowns in it, we are confident that You will do what’s good in Your sight concerning us. And please Lord; bring good out of the bad circumstances You sovereignly permit in our lives in March 2022! With a trusting and thankful heart, we pray all these prayers in the precious and powerful name of Jesus Christ! Amen!